Demand Generation vs Demand Capture

Marketers often confuse demand generation and demand capture. They also confuse them with funnel stages (ToFu, MoFu, BoFu) and awareness stages (Problem Unaware → Most Aware).

This article aims to clear everything up.

Demand Generation

B2B buyers buy differently. You cannot force a need. Most of the time you have to play the patient game and wait for the need to arise (sometimes you can accelerate it, but this is the exception, not the rule).

The goal is to stay top of mind and be the clear leader in your niche so that when the need arises, you’re the first one prospects think of.

How To Generate Demand:

• Create excellent content (educational, entertaining, emotional, relevant)
• Distribute it in front of the right people (right place / right platform)
• Publish consistently

Audience: Out-of-market buyers (≈95% of the market, according to Ehrenberg-Bass).

Demand Capture

When B2B buyers are ready to buy, they research solutions themselves. And when that moment comes, you want to capture that active need.

It’s about understanding how prospects search, controlling high-intent touchpoints, and optimizing them for conversions. You can also use tools to access data from these touchpoints, identify the best prospects, and run targeted outreach or ad campaigns.

How To Capture Demand:

• High-intent search ads
• Retargeting / remarketing
• Website + demo flow optimization
• Case studies + testimonials
• Pricing + comparison pages

Audience: In-market buyers (≈5% of the market).

Demand vs Funnel vs Awareness

• Demand is about market status. Are buyers out of market (no need yet), or in market (ready to buy). It tells you which play to run i.e. generation or capture.
• Funnel stages (ToFu, MoFu, BoFu) describe where someone sits in your funnel, and guides the type of content you should serve them. For example, awareness driving at the top. Social proof and product in the middle. Conversion nudges at the bottom.
• Awareness levels (Problem Unaware → Most Aware) describe the buyer’s mind state. Are they problem unaware, problem aware, solution aware, product aware, or most aware. It tells you how far along their mindset is in the buyer’s journey.

These models do not align perfectly. A prospect can be most aware but still out of market. Or they can be problem or solution aware, but not yet product aware, while already in market and researching. Treat them as approximations. Sometimes the demand model works best, other times the funnel or awareness model does. Choose the right one for the situation.

Takeaways

• Demand Generation – stay top of mind with out-of-market buyers so you’re first in line when the need arises
• Demand Capture – meet in-market buyers at high-intent touchpoints, optimize them for conversion, and/or target them directly using people / intent data
• Demand vs Funnel vs Awareness – demand = market status, funnel = your funnel stage, awareness = the buyer’s mindset